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Jayapal Introduces Legislation to Protect Domestic Workers

WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) is today leading 104 Members of Congress in reintroducing the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. The groundbreaking legislation will finally extend common workplace rights and protections to the 2.2 million domestic workers in the United States, who are currently excluded from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other key labor and safety laws that the majority of the workforce relies on. The legislation would also improve job quality by ensuring paid sick days, written agreements, and other benefits.

“Domestic workers are too often called essential, but treated as expendable,” said Jayapal. “These workers, who are predominantly women of color and immigrants, make all other work possible. This landmark legislation ensures that domestic workers are finally included in our existing labor laws, giving them access to the basic protections they deserve in the workplace, including overtime pay, guaranteed rest and meal breaks, time off, and legal protections from unsafe working conditions and harassment. It will finally give our domestic workers the dignity and respect they deserve. This legislation is more important now than ever as the Trump Administration works to strip many of the programs domestic workers rely on to survive, like Medicaid and food assistance.”

Since they are unprotected from labor laws, domestic workers are more likely to live in poverty than workers in other, protected sectors. In 2023, the typical domestic worker earned $20,926 per year, which is not enough to afford a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States. Four in five domestic workers also do not receive sick days, and one in three do not receive breaks during work. 

“Domestic workers have always been essential,” said Jenn Stowe, Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. “For generations, women of color and immigrant women have provided the care that powers our economy and strengthens our communities. Yet today, that essential work is under threat—from looming Medicaid cuts that would devastate workers and care recipients alike, to harmful immigration enforcement that destabilizes families and instills fear in communities where there should be safety. The reintroduction of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights is a declaration that no one should have to live or work in fear, and that every worker deserves dignity, safety, and respect.”

The legislation amends the Civil Rights Act and the FLSA to ensure domestic workers are able to earn overtime, sick days, and are able to request time off for personal reasons, that their employment is subject to a written agreement, that they are provided meal and rest breaks, that their privacy is protected, and that they are protected from workplace discrimination and harassment. It would also create additional resources to better implement these protections and rights and establish a National Domestic Worker Hotline where workers can call to seek assistance on employment issues. 

The legislation is cosponsored by Alma S. Adams, PhD (NC-12), Gabe Amo (RI-01), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Becca Balint (VT-00), Rep. Nanette Barragan (CA-44), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Don Beyer (VA-08), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02), Shontel Brown  (OH-11), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Andre Carson (IN-07), Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02), Greg Casar (TX-35), Sean Casten (IL-06), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO-05), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Suzan DelBebe (WA-01), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), John Garamendi (CA-08), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Jesus G. “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04), Sylvia R. Garcia (TX-29), Daniel Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Al Green (TX-09), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr.  (GA-04), Robin L. Kelly (IL-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Summer Lee (PA-12), Teresa Leger Fernández  (NM-03), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Doris Matsui  (CA -07), Sarah McBride (DE-AL), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Betty McCollum (MN-04), James P. McGovern (MA-02), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Rob Menendez (NJ-08), Grace Meng (NY-06), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Deborah K. Ross (NC-02), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda Sanchez (CA-38), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), David Scott (GA-13), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Adam Smith (WA-09), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Mark Takano (CA-39), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Bennie G. Thompson  (MS-02), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Bonnie Watson Coleman  (NJ -12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24). 

It is also endorsed by A Better Balance, A.Y.U.D.A Inc., Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Black Labor Week Project Inc., Border Workers United, Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy , Caring Across Generations, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Centro Cultural de Mexico, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Coalition on Human Needs, Community Change Action, Detroit Disability Power, Family Values @ Work, Freedom Network USA, Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Just Solutions, Justice for Migrant Women, Justice in Aging, Michigan Disability Rights Coalition , MomsRising, National Council of Jewish Women, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Employment Law Project, National Organization for Women, National Partnership for Women & Families, New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, New Orleans Workers’ for Racial Justice, Oxfam America, Paid Leave for All, People’s Action Institute , PHI, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Seventh Generation Interfaith Coalition for Responsible Investment, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, The Restaurant Opportunity Center of Pennsylvania (ROC PA), Women Employed, Women’s March.

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